FULTON, Ms. – LSU Eunice begins its quest for a third consecutive NJCAA Division II National Championship with the start of the Region 23 Tournament this weekend on the campus of Itawamba Community College.  The Bengals join top-seed Jones County, Itawamba and East Central in the four-team field.
 
LSUE (44-16) is the two-seed in the tournament and will open against three-seed and tournament host, Itawamba CC (41-9), at 4:00PM on Thursday, May 10.  Jones County (46-3) will take on four-seed East Central (35-12) in the nightcap of the opening day at 6:00PM.  All four teams are ranked in the Top 10 of the final NJCAA Division II Softball rankings of the year with LSUE, Itawamba and Jones County ranked No. 2, 3 and 4 respectively.
 
Jones County is the only team in the Region Tournament field that LSU Eunice has faced this season.  The Bengals lost both games back on February 8.  LSUE is 39-9 since those two games.
The Bengals are 3-0 all-time against Itawamba in Region Tournament play.  The two teams met last year, with LSUE defeating ICC 5-1 in an elimination game.  LSU Eunice is 28-17 all-time in Region 23 postseason action.
 
LSUE enters the Region 23 Tournament in search of the program's third straight NJCAA World Series appearance and team's eighth in the last nine years.  The top two teams in this weekend's tournament advance to the 16-team field for the World Series in Clinton, Ms. 
 
The Bengals have been led offensively this season my Mima Doucet.  The sophomore paces the LSU Eunice offense with a .447 batting average and is tops on the team in runs (69), hits (88), doubles (27) and stolen bases (36).  The Notre Dame HS product's 27 doubles lead NJCAA Division II and is the second most at LSUE in a single season.
 
Heather Zumo (25-7) will be counted for the bulk of the action inside the circle.  The freshman has dominated after limping out to a 5-5 start.  Since then, the Central HS product is an impressive 20-2 and has dropped her earned run average from 2.79 on February 17 to a 1.45 entering postseason play.  Zumo has given up just 38 earned runs this year and has a 154-23 strikeout to walk ratio.    
 
All of LSU Eunice's Region 23 games can be heard live on the Bayou Sports Network with Randy Guillory on the call.  Itawamba will have a free video stream which can be accessed on www.letsgoicc.com. 
 
Fans can find the latest Bengals information on social media via Twitter (@LSUEBengalsSB), Facebook (@LSUEuniceSoftballl) and Instagram (@LSUEBengals).
 
2018 REGION 23 TOURNAMENT
ITAWAMBA CC – MAY 10-12, 2018

GAME 1:  2. LSU Eunice (44-16) vs. 3. Itawamba CC (41-9)     Thursday 4:00PM
GAME 2:  4. Jones County (46-3) vs. 10. East Central (35-12) Thursday 6:00PM
GAME 3: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner                                Friday 1:00PM
GAME 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser                                     Friday 3:00PM
GAME 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner                                  Friday 5:00PM
GAME 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner (Championship)  Saturday 1:00PM
GAME 7: If Necessary Game                                                            Saturday 3:00PM